Beautiful and down to earth art, serene hymns, no wars, no bombastic statues, and no talking about enslaving and crushing enemies... Sounds nice, I really like this pharaoh

Finally, a good documentary narrated by Tywin Lannister.

Ever since I learned about ancient Egypt in grade school I fell in love with the subject and have tried to learn everything I can about it. However, Akhenaten has rarely if ever been mentioned. After seeing the Metropolitan Opera’s recent production of Phillip Glass’ opera “Akhnaten” I’ve been trying to learn more about this groundbreaking and controversial pharaoh. Thanks for posting this video. Some of the puzzle pieces are starting to come together to flesh out the picture of who this amazing pharaoh was.

Oh, and if anyone's interested, in the relatively recent video game, 'Assassin's Creed Origins,' one of the DLC's - 'Curse of the Pharaohs' - allows you to explore a highly idealized but somewhat accurate city of Amarna as the afterlife of Akhenaten. While the game has a huge science fiction bend - fighting Egyptian Gods, fighting dead Pharaohs, powerful artifacts, et cetera - the historical aspects are wonderful. The game is set during the reign of Cleopatra at the end of Ptolemaic Egypt, and all of the major landmarks and ancient cities are rendered accurately. Memphis, Alexandria, the Lighthouse and Library of Alexandria, the Pyramids of Giza - inside and out - the Sphinx, Cyrene, Siwa Oasis. One later DLC adds the Sinai Peninsula - originally Heliopolis but changed to Sinai, idk why - and Upper Egypt landmarks and cities like Thebes, the Valley of the Kings, Karnak and Luxor, Hatshepshut's Temple, and afterlives dedicated to different Pharaohs, including Akhenaten's Amarna.

The roots of this conflict between rulers and ecclesiastics go all the way back to the succession of Hatshepsut after the death of Tuthmose II. Originally the regent for the young Tuthmose III, Hatshepsut decided to become a king instead. She was probably inspired by Aahotep who had been a renowned queen-regent of the 17th Dynasty -- almost two centuries before -- during the wars against the Hyksos. This would be problematic in a time of peace, since even the Egyptian word for 'king' implied maleness. Hatshepsut knew that she would need more support to seize the throne ...and she found it. Each year during the Festival of Opet, the god Amun (or his image, in any event) was supposed to have traveled from his temple in Thebes to pay a month-long conjugal visit to his consort, the goddess Mut, at her temple in Karnak. Public debauchery and drunkenness were part of the event. It was basically "Spring Break" in the Bronze Age. Since the image of Amun couldn't actually walk, a gaggle of priests had to carry it on a gilded boat-shaped litter. This was the ambitious queen's chance. During the procession, she approached the gleaming barque of Amun -- and the image of the god, veiled by finest linen from the eyes of mere mortals -- to pose a question: was it the will of the chief god Amun -- and therefore of all the gods -- that Hatshepsut should become King? The high priest repeated her question and suddenly the barque of the god dipped toward Hatshepsut, to indicate his divine approval. Of course, all of this play-acting had been arranged with the Amun priests beforehand -- for a price. Hatshepsut got what she wanted through this bit of flim-flam, but so did the Amun priests whose price was far higher than riches. They were already obscenely wealthy through the offerings given to them to care for the spirits of the dead. From now on, they -- posing as Amun -- would have a say in the royal succession, too. Even Hatshepsut seemed to belatedly recognize the terrible bargain she had struck. She was the first ruler to apply the title, 'Pharaoh' to herself. It literally means "great House," which emphasized her lineage -- as the eldest daughter of one king and the widow of another -- rather than her gender.

I love Ahkenaten's story, but they really tried to put the pity on the other priests in this spin! The other priests did not care about the people, they liked the power and riches, and that is why they hated Akhenaten so much! I will always love the mystery surrounding this Pharaoh!

My absolute favorite pharaoh

now that narration sounds like tywin lanaster ☺️

Why are people surprised? Emperor Constantine did the same thing in Rome with Christianity. The head of state AND the head of religion is supreme power.

Amazing!

I have read about & thought about Akhenaten for years. And the only conclusion I can come to is that, simply, he was an experimenter. Everything else, even the politics, was secondary,

Tywin Lannister

I do believe that Amarna was not chosen randomly.. Akhenaten knew the history of the area and built upon it.. May time expose the mysteries ;)

Yeah, in ancient Egypt there were attempts to erase all mention of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his one god, monotheistic religion. So, not much seems to be known about that religion today. I would like to know more about it. And, beforehand there were attempts to remove the polytheistic religion of ancient Egypt. So, destruction both times. It's a pity the two religions couldn't have existed together in peace and harmony. Dogma does not work. There is also believed to be a connection between Moses and Akhenaten. There was apparently a group who still followed Akhenaton's monotheistic religion after his time. With Tutankhamun's tomb having survived intact, it's a pity that it didn't contain documents all about Akhenaten's monotheistic religion. After-all, Tutankhamun was Akhenaten's son.

Religion is a huge security concern for any established culture. Trying to change a religion will of course cause panic and fear in the populace (Christian missionaries had known a lot about that!). Akhenaten was an inspired human being who also had to unite the various peoples of Egypt's population (the result of prior Egyptian conquests). Religion was a unifying force, and the Sun was universal among all people, whether Nubian, native Egyptian, etc, etc. The priests had become corrupt and politically too powerful, so Akhenaten as Pharaoh took back that power. It is a false statement in this documentary that he took livelihood away from his subjects. He took an enormous number of his people with him to build and support El Amarna. The change had to be swift and definite. El Amarna was situated half-way between the two capitals of Egypt. Is this so impossible to grasp? We did the same thing in Australia. Our capital, Canberra, is situated half-way between our two major cities, Sydney and Melbourne (which both argued to be our capital), in the middle of a ring of mountains, kilometres from any major population area!

He’s my favorite pharaoh

very good

So I guess we can sum up what happened to Akhenaten with: 🎵 And who are you, the proud lord said, that I must bow so low? 🎵

Akhenaten's father, Amenhotep III, I believe, was the pharaoh of the Exodus. His first born son, crown prince Thutmose, disappears suddenly from historical records (as a result of the "Passover"?), and Akhenaten becomes pharaoh. After either witnessing personally, or hearing tales from his father or others later, the "glory of the Lord" and "spirit of the Lord" pillars of fire and cloud, that shone light on the Hebrew camp all night while the sea parted for crossing, and also which fought off the Egyptian army all night, shooting out flames and knocking off chariot wheels in some instances, it's my belief that Akhenaten decided that this was the sun-disc god Aten making an appearance. I find it difficult to believe that the entire Exodus story has no basis in fact whatsoever, and if it DOES, then something must have been visible flying in the skies that influenced the story.

When i have problems i ask myself what whould akunaughtan do...

Why isn't anyone talking about the change of conversation at 22:16 Brilliant! Akhenaten was the Key to true ancient egyptian spirituality. And the gateway to TRUE monotheism

I think when he said that there is only one god...he was talking about the atma. It is said that the atma is a part of the all pervading god. He was trying to shift people from worshipping saguna god to nirguna god. I obviously dont know how he came to know about it.🙏.

I wonder if Akenaten had some kind or personal realisation that the Sun is stationary and the Earth goes around it. Not by scientific study, but by a spiritual revelation. The other pharaohs saw Orion as stationary with the planets and sun moving.

A German Documentary about Echnaton suggested that he had the Marfan-Syndrome and was thus excluded from daily Life as a Prince and more or less hidden away. This goes along with the lack of Portrayals of Echnaton in his Childhood. They argued that he felt betrayed by the old Gods and thus chkse a new one and Armana was his Attempt to create some Sort of new Utopia in which he could be himself.

One & only pharaoh who believed in one God.

What if he knew the temple priest where corrupt to the extreme and he had to prove to the priest they didn't have all the power and as soon as he died.. they ceased that everything.. cause I guess the priest win again now they have it perfected... I mean why is the Catholic Church so wealthy...

The reason the king of Egypt king ( Akhnuntoton )changed his religion was because the Prophet Joseph made him do so The whole complete story is in the film called “ Prophet Joseph “ made in Iran long time ago. You can find it on KZfaq

Great acting from the Egyptologist. Lol

He ate some moldy bread and had an hallucinating experience. Since Egypt was the Colony of the Roman Emperor the diefication of the Emperor was learned from Egypt.

a bit overstated and simplified, although quite good. For a more complete examination of this see Nicholas Reeves "Akhenaten: Egypts False Prophet". Good show - thank you for posting.

Ha ha ha, I LOVE the Agatha Christie reference at 9:45! So subtle, so brilliant!

Historians are still ignoring the significance of the volcanic eruption on modern-day Santorini which spread ash from the Black Sea all the way to Egypt. This most likely blocked out the Sun for a long time making people think that the Sun God was upset. It makes sense that a monotheistic religion devoted to the sun god would have developed. This would have also caused chaotic migrations in the entire Mediterranean which the Egyptian refer to as the sea people. The other thing that does not get enough attention is once Egyptian monotheistic religion was condemned, it is natural that those people would have fled into the desert and most likely mixed with the sea people becoming the Hebrews. The earliest Hebrew writings date at least 400 years after the fact. So it makes sense that the details would have been lost. The order and timing of events would have been mixed up when presented in the modern-day Hebrew scriptures.

HE IS MY FAVORITE FHARAOH. .HE WAS RIGHT .

Mirip yanto kates, si yanto titisannya mungkin

do we have the rest of the writing where ıt says the gods or dıvınıtıes stopped

Why couldn't it be both? our conscious minds are not always aware of what is going on in our unconscious minds. Spiritual revelations might simply be those moments when our conscious minds become aware of what has been going on deep down for a long while.

Begins at 1:20. Before that is 'arty' theatrics. This is obviously well researched and the conclusions give answers, but it also leaves room for speculation (I love "wot if" ... )

Akhenaten’s reign can be seen from his family, the 18th Dynasty. It would seem that there were split religious beliefs as parts had the name of Tutmoses of which there were four split. With those named Amenhotep of which Amenhotep iV changed his name to Akhenaten. This break may have been caused by an increasing power. Of the Priests of Karnak Temple at Thebes. The recent discovery of a city by Thebes, the golden city of Aten was either built by. Tutmoses IV or Amenhotep III. In all cities ( districts) that a Pharaoh would build, there would be a Temple, which so far the remains have not been found. Aye, was a distant relative, possibly a second uncle to Amenhotep IV and a priest of Amun. However the practice of nepotism, he was made Vizier, most likely by Amenhotep III. Aye would have likely trued to influence Akhenaten on the religious institution at Karnak. Most likely th3 previous pharaohs would have paid at least lip service to the priesthood, as a royal family being politically in charge, does not have to be devout. So with there being a split between the Temple at Thebes and Akhenaten, with his power, he closed the other temples and to avert major civil war, he decided to create a new capital at Armana. That this program shows the inside o& Aye’s tomb there, shows how long and how much money Aye had to pay for such work. And explains Aye’s actions upon the death of Tutankhamen and why Tutankhamen was buried in an inappropriate tomb for a Pharaoh, while Ay3 having usurped th3 throne from the appropriate heir Horemheb, and was buried in a tomb that would have taken at least a d3cad3 and if a size that could only have been afforded by a Pharaoh over many years. Aye only held the throne for four years, and with the death of Akhenaten, he became regent to Tutankhaten and forced him to reopen Karnak and change his name to Tutankhamen. And return 5he capital to Thebes. The painting in Tutankhamen’s tomb showing the opening of the mouth ceremony shows that Ay3 did this while in his garb as a priest of Amun. He also had himself depicted as being a young pharaoh despite that he was at least fifty.

Some archeologists now claim some of Tut's things were Akhenaton, like the throne chair, notice the sur disk.

Were told "the Egyptians" didn't like the one god, but they had no say really. It was the priests who opposed him.

This has to be one of the most *un* revealing documentaries I've seen about ancient Egypt. What exactly do we learn about Akhenaten that we haven't heard countless times before? It's a pity because I love Charles Dance.

Akhenaten is one of the more interesting Pharaohs. Most were quite boring and did nothing of note. His notoriety is exactly what makes him endure...something the priesthood tried to eradicate.

Belief in one God. Imagine that?

Greetings all from a Royal descendant of Pharaoh Akhenaten 3600 years later!

It's ironic that the practice of leaving the problems behind and escaping to a new capital is still being practiced in Egypt.

The story of Akhenaten is well explained in the drama of Prophet Yousuf/Joseph, which you can watch on KZfaq "Hazrat Yousuf" with subtitles. Prophet Yousuf's story is one of the finest stories and very well explained in the Quran. According to our Muslim history Hazrat Yousuf/Joseph was son of Prophet Jacob/Israel, who was son of Prophet Iseq/Ishaq, who was son of Prophet Ibrahim/Abraham. Hazrat Ibrahim/Abraham was originally from babylon (nowadays Baghdad Iraq). One of his grand son Hazrat Yaqoob/Jacob was sent to Qinan (Israel). Hazrat Yaqoob/Jacob was also known as Israel (so Israelis are his descendants). One of his son Hazrat Yousuf/Joseph was also a Prophet. In his childhood his brothers threw him into the well out of jealousy. And Joseph was pulled out and was led away by a caravan to Egypt. There they sold Joseph to Governor of Memphis (old Egyptian city). Joseph found a high place at the office of Governor because of his skills and intelligence. There he, Joseph, grew up and eventually went into prison in a fake case. But he was released from prison after interpreting a very difficult dream of the king. That king was Akhenaten. Akhenaten made him his minister and later he became a follower of Abraham's religion and abandoned the worship of Amon. There he, Joseph, performed many miracles, rescued Egypt from famine, served the people, lifted them out of poverty, exposed the lies of Amon's followers, and removed the statue of Amon from the synagogue. In this, Yousuf had the full support of Akhenaten. Because Akhenaten was disturbed by the unjustified spending of the priests, their whims and unwarranted interference in the affairs of the government. Therefore, Akhenaten wanted to get rid of them through Yousuf or in other words we can say, Allah gave guidance to Akhenaten. However, the statue of Amon was later removed, the priests were arrested, and Amon worship was banned. Joseph then called his family to Egypt and they all stayed there. Later on few years later Akhenaten was removed and the worse days started for the Prophet Joseph's family.

👍🏾

bset!

Right out of the gate "there going to look inside his mind." I was waiting to see the mommy going head first into an X-Ray. Alas, nothing, so sad.

I wonder how the people got fed out in the desert. If they had to bring in food from other parts of the country.

Ahkenaten set His people free...

One thing I've always wondered why haven't they restored the Sphinx when it be way cooler if see at least fixed it all up because he put a wine head back on there but it's still look better if they put a nose and fix his face up and just did a total makeover I don't see how that wouldn't harm anything I'm sure it would draw more people

Ancient astronaut theorists say: YES

So I know it's quite unfair invoking Tywin everytime Charles Dance narrates something, but considering the topic (how a monarch's obsession with controlling the institutions of faith ruins the other aspects of his politics), you ever imagine this is practically how Tywin sneers down on Baelor the Blessed (esp. since the show already pointed out he doesn't think of him a good king)

They only see pictures of drawings of their time which was explaining different things that we're going on he don't know all that those are drawing of the time

Does anyone know when this episode was first ever aired + who by?

What a great king and pharaoh

Did they ever mention anything about the “ powerhouse of the Egyptian economy .” ???

That's me! Wanna know how pyramids made and why?

Why there is no narration of prophet Joseph in this video. Joseph was governor of egypt at the same time.

66 And it came to pass that the nation of Egypt became exceedingly great among all the nations of the earth. And they trained armies to protect them, and they caused that great cities were built up according to their traditions and the worship of their gods. 67 And it came to pass that there was a son of a pharaoh, whose name was Akhenaton. And during the days of his youth, Akhenaton played among the slaves, which were in the service of his father. 68 And among those with whom he played, was a boy whose name was Ubaid. And Ubaid had been foreordained by the Lord to become a great prophet to the Egyptian people. For the parents of Ubaid were a humble people who did not accept the many gods that were worshipped in Egypt. 73 And for this reason, Akhenaton was allowed to play with Ubaid all the days of their youth. For it was not permitted by their laws, that the upper class had established for them, that their children, who were esteemed above the children of the lower class, should play with or associate with other children who were not of their own class. 74 But it came to pass that Akhenaton became like a brother unto Ubaid. And while in the house of Ubaid, he would listen to the words of the father of Ubaid and ponder upon them in his heart. 101 And Ubaid continued, saying: Behold, I have been called by God to preach repentance unto this people, and to teach them the truth regarding those things that they have been taught by the traditions of their fathers, which are the precepts of men. For the things that they have been taught are contrary to the laws of happiness by which God would have us live, so that we might be happy upon this earth, and also, that we might be happy when we return once again to live with Him in His kingdoms. 110 And after hearing these words from Ubaid, Akhenaton fell again upon his friend and wept, saying: Oh, my beloved Ubaid, I shall never forget thee. I beg of thee, tell me that which thou wouldst have me do in honor of thy memory, that thou mightest know that I shall keep the promise I have made unto thee all the days of my life. 111 Now, this was the thing that Ubaid had hoped his friend would say. For he knew that the word of the son of a pharaoh was just as binding as the word of the Pharaoh himself. And Ubaid spoke again, saying: I would that thou spendest the last few days of my life with me, that I might teach unto thee all the things which I have learned from the God of which I have spoken. 113 And it came to pass that Akhenaton did that which Ubaid had requested of him. And for many days he would go into the prison where Ubaid was being held captive and listen to the words of this prophet of God. 114 And the Holy Ghost came upon Akhenaton, and he believed the things which he had been taught by Ubaid. And in this manner, the Lord prepared a way whereby the Egyptian nation could receive his words, even by way of one of their kings. 122 And it came to pass that Akhenaton sat upon the throne of Egypt after his father died. And he caused the things that he had learned from Ubaid to be taught to the people. And he also withdrew the government support previously given to the priests of the other gods, and caused all to worship one god, even the God that he had been taught to worship by Ubaid. 123 And it came to pass that while Akhenaton lived and sat upon the throne of his fathers, many of the people began to turn from the traditions of their fathers and worship God. But the priests were numerous and influential among the people, evensomuch that they succeeded in terrifying the fearful people into believing that if they obeyed Akhenaton, they would suffer the wrath of the other gods that they had been taught to believe in by their ancestors. 124 And it came to pass that after the death of Akhenaton, the priests of Egypt once again turned the people to all manner of wickedness and idolatry.

Ahhh Charles Dance

it was a strange time

If you want to know why he did it, look at his Father.

Hmmm the priests he was having the power struggle with is reminding me of the Vatican 🤔

Aken... Looks like Rakim. Don't sweat the technique

An ancient henry the VIII

Lead his people out of oppression from a corrupt priesthood into Amarna, he lived the life that was plagiarized by the people who wrote the Old Testament saying it was Moses and putting their own spin on it!

If you read "The Ra Material" channeled by Carla Rueckert, Ra states that Akhenaten was "small in life experience" in our plane and was a "Wanderer." After he was contacted by them, he blended his distortions with the vibratory complexes that aligned with the vibration of One, hence the sudden change. His spiritual vibration changed to reflect the Law of One. After his death, it went back to polytheism and stayed this way until Mohammed. Essentially, this being was contacted, so too was Mohammed. This is how religion starts. The rising of beliefs and truths do not originate solely from this planet and from only one species. We are affected by all thoughts and vibrations. Each of us is affecting and being affected upon by all thought patterns that travel through all of existence. Over time, the majority of the world shifted to a monotheistic view that reflects a divine creator. Perhaps these beings were attempting to progress our consciousness through this Pharaoh but the time wasn't right as our ancient ancestors were still stuck in the paradigm that they (Ra/Anunnaki) had created when they were incarnate.

ATEN BE PRAISED!!!

Charles dance? lol

Tywin lannister narrating?

Must have been a Leo :-) Ego

Suzanna Maria Emmanuel exposes the truth about Akhenaten and the great sun consciousness...which has returned

Check out Lorraine Evans Kingdom of the Ark And the Master Michael Tsarion

This is king akehutange

he's only going with recording of pictures of their live that was drawn at their civilization and time to explain what was really going on but that's not the truth of it all they don't know that

Ahknaughton moved the city far from the plague ravaged land Moses give Egypt in the prior years before his rule .after God showed himself then all old religions was abolished just like you'd expect.

"I stand with Aten"

Is this where Constantine got the idea from ?

What are the odds of having 363 k views and 363 comments

Tut's father was a good man and leader, unfortunately his life was taken too by Ay. He wanted to be the leader in charge and to marry Nefertiti. He didnt care about who he needed to hurt or step on to get what he wanted. I only respect Akhenaten, Tuya, Tut, and Ankhesenamun.

From finds it is clear that the monotheistic doctrine of the heretical pharaon Akhenaten was the cause of malformation and desertification in contrast with the constitution of Egypt which depended on the prosperity of the Nile river!

He was frightened??? 😄 But they didn't tell people the "REAL TRUTH" that he destroyed thousands of images of old idols of every god/goddess, and abandoned & boarded up the temples putting over 70,000 priests unemployed, THEN built Amarna on virgin soil, free of polytheism & blasphemy. This was the origins of Monotheism. No Akhenaten (YAH), then Moses, Jesus, Muhammad...the Bible & Quran wouldn't be a testament if his revelation. 🙏 Amen. Praises be unto the One True Ever-Living One

Check on yt a very interesting video : " Akhenaton was the most mysterious pharaoh; a meditation on the power of solar disk Aton"

possible hyksos linage

if you want to understand akhnaton you should read the #Quran ! he is not mention by name but i think he was in the time of prophet yusuf peace be upon him the story in the Quran is amazing if you don't have a copy of the Quran read the chapter yusuf from Google.

What is more powerful than the sun 🌞🌞

If akhenaten would hear the word rebel in connection with his name, do you think he would be surprised?

Even the regular people missed the priests, they were wealthy and bought alot of property. Pharoahs dont.

Ever since the birth of one and only true God, World was divided.

He knew , KNEW , that the sun circles the earth!! Which it definitely does !

Lannisters send their regards

So THIS is him? Someone said I looked like him...eh.

The sun disk was actually a ship

Calling Akhenaton's prayer "almost a manifesto" -- what does that mean? Is every prayer a manifesto? Every religious icon is a manifesto? What about the Psalms of David? Are they all manifestos? Generalizations can destroy context, IMO.

Akhenaten is recorded in the Bible as well, known as Moses...he was consider a traitor and they tried to erase his existance from all the literature and sculptures, as he stole the Ark of the Covenant when he run from Egypt, rendering the pyramid's zero point energy technology useless...This is why they chased after him, to recover the Ark, not for any other reason...so...yes, very controversial...

Im fed up listening to these so called experts making thier own asumtions without any evidence

His monotheism was a reaction to the impotent polytheism that was defeated by the one true God of Moses at the Exodus.

If his move was based on practical politics, running away and creating new city to for his faith looked like redundancy and utter nonsense .. Consolidate with temples in Thebes is easier.. I incline to support Dominic's theory